Isle Of Man Dentists Make A Difference In Uganda
A dental team from the Isle of Man has recently returned from a trip to Uganda. The team, which was made up of two dentists and a dental nurse spent two weeks in the African country providing hundreds of people with basic dental care.
Dentist Erik Ahlbom, from the Port Erin dental surgery was joined by colleague, Linda Dobinson and dental nurse, Maria Shilling, for the two-week trip. During their stay in Uganda, the trio was stationed at a mobile dental unit in the south west of the country; they worked tirelessly to see as many people as possible and said that the trip was very hard work but extremely satisfying.
People came from miles away to see the dental team; many of them had never seen a dentist before due to the severe shortage of dentists in the country and a lack of infrastructure, which makes it difficult to get around. Many communities still have a witch doctor that is responsible for medical and dental treatment, which is often very painful and primitive.
Miss Shilling said that people came in “droves” from far and wide and it was hugely rewarding to be able to treat them, despite the difficult working conditions.
This was Mr Ahlbom’s second trip toUgandaas part of the Dentaid mission; he said that it is important to help the people ofUgandaand to provide them with pain relief and effective treatment in place of “witchcraft, sorcery and magic,”
Mr Ahlbom has been fundraising for the trip for a year and he said it was great to be joined by his practice colleagues. The group said that the trip was very rewarding but despite them working night and day, they merely “scratched the surface”. There is a severe shortage of dentists in the country, with just one dentist to more than 158,000 patients and many people still rely on witchdoctor remedies, rather than modern dental treatments.
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